Luca already had a rough plan in place for dealing with Braga. First, Brian and Toretto would infiltrate as drivers and feed him intel; second, there was Giselle—if that stunning woman flipped sides, the whole operation would gain an extra layer of safety; and finally, the LAPD.
Vincent and Jack were rare bright spots in that department, and with their help, things would go a lot smoother. The only downside was that they weren't narcotics—they were Major Crimes—so drug cases weren't exactly their lane, but that wasn't a dealbreaker. As long as they wore badges, there'd always be some overlap.
After giving Toretto and Brian a basic rundown, Luca left the campsite to find Mathilda and Elle Driver, leaving the Family man crew staring at each other like they'd just been handed a script for the wrong movie.
Toretto still looked dazed—five minutes ago he'd been robbing trucks, and now he was about to infiltrate a cartel. Brian let out a long sigh beside him. "Looks like tonight's gonna be interesting, Dom. Let's see who crosses the finish line first."
Braga's crew had been scouting drivers all over the race event, but they couldn't take everyone, so naturally, there'd be another round of selection—and the simplest way to do that was racing.
Toretto raised an eyebrow at Brian's competitive grin. "Who gave you the guts to challenge me? The Dove of Peace?" Brian shot back with a smirk, "I'm racing you. If we throw Luca into the mix, you won't even have the strength to hit the gas."
"Don't try to scare me with your 'Dove of Peace.'" Toretto stood up, his broad frame casting a shadow over Brian. "You still owe me an explanation about you and Mia." Brian froze for half a second—great, the future brother-in-law interrogation was back.
He forced a laugh. "I'm serious about Mia, Dom. You can trust me. I wouldn't have risked pissing off the Dove of Peace just to save you otherwise."
Toretto glanced at Mia, who looked a little nervous but didn't look away. Love really did make people blind sometimes, but she could feel Brian's sincerity, and his actions today spoke louder than anything else. He had shown up when it mattered, and because of him, the whole crew walked away in one piece. That counted for something.
Toretto exhaled slowly. Some things, you just couldn't stop. Vince had chased Mia for years and got nowhere, while Brian showed up for less than two weeks and somehow skipped straight to the front of the line—call it fate, or just bad timing.
"I'll say this one more time," Toretto warned, voice low and steady. "If you ever betray my sister, I'll blow your head off." Brian nodded without hesitation. "Then you'll never get the chance."
Night fell.
Braga's selection race was about to begin, and Giselle had invited Luca to watch. "I was going to ask if you wanted in," she said, looping her arm through his, "but honestly, that feels unnecessary now. Most of the drivers here are desperate, broke, or both—and you're obviously neither, are you… Mr. Luca, Dove of Peace, from New York?"
Information traveled fast in the underworld. Giselle had spent most of the day digging into Luca's background, not expecting much—but the SSR Club's reputation in New York was anything but low-key.
Politicians, businessmen, even connected figures from organized crime circles held memberships there. Names like the Gambino family and Fat Tony came up more than once; people used the club to host guests, cut deals, unwind. And once someone stepped inside and felt the atmosphere shaped by the Silver Queen, it stuck with them.
These days, the consensus was simple: even without anything illegal on the surface, the SSR Club was still one of the best places to relax—and its owner, Luca, wasn't just some rich enthusiast, he is a major player.
When Giselle realized that, it genuinely rattled her. The man she'd casually flirted with? A mafia boss. With that kind of status, even Braga would have to show him respect. The thought sent a chill down her spine. If Luca wanted to, he probably already knew everything about her.
Still, she chose not to hide tonight. She made the first move again—and Luca accepted.
"I never pictured a mafia boss as a car guy," Giselle said, smiling, still close enough that her shoulder brushed his. "I figured you'd all be into vintage classics." Luca chuckled. "Have you actually seen a mafia guy driving a classic car?"
"The L.A. family," she replied. "Met their boss once—old-school all the way. Honestly, most of them were older guys. Not many young faces." She went on to describe that meeting—a gathering of gang leaders in Los Angeles to carve up the drug trade.
Mafia, Black gangs, French network, Triads, Mexican cartels—the whole ecosystem in one room. After that, the L.A. family pulled out of the LA drug scene almost entirely. The vacuum got filled fast: Black and French took big chunks, and Chinatown became firmly Triad territory.
When she mentioned the French network, Luca's expression shifted slightly. The so-called "French network" hadn't vanished—it had just changed hands. The CIA still had its fingerprints on parts of it, especially on the East Coast, though the West Coast had its own fragments. Still, none of them matched the scale of the Mexican cartels. Right now, Braga was the biggest supplier in Los Angeles. No debate.
"So," Luca said, glancing at her, "you did your homework. I thought we were just two car people hitting it off." Giselle shrugged lightly. "Occupational hazard. And you should already know who I work for." Luca nodded, then pressed, "I'm curious—who is Braga, really? Everyone knows the name, but nobody's ever seen the man."
Because there was no man—at least, not the one people imagined.
Giselle held his gaze for a moment, weighing her words carefully. This wasn't a casual question. "I've only met the second-in-command," she said at last. "He's the only one who knows who the real boss is. If you want, I can introduce you."
Luca narrowed his eyes slightly. She was still holding something back. Giselle added, "He's here tonight. If you're interested in the drug trade, you could talk—he's very interested in the East Coast market." Which also meant: no deal without going through him.
Luca wasn't particularly eager to meet Braga, and frankly, they didn't have much to talk about—but sometimes the mountain came to you. Braga's people were already moving through the crowd, meeting drivers, evaluating them. Luca glanced over—and a system panel popped up.
Ramon—the so-called second-in-command—was, in reality, Braga himself. Very few people knew that. Luca, conveniently, was one of them.
Giselle pointed him out casually. "That's Ramon. He handles driver recruitment."
"Drug running?" Luca asked.
Giselle shook her head with a faint smile. "Let's not be so blunt. Drivers just move cargo—they don't need to know what's inside."
Luca nodded, but his attention was already on the skill description.
[Character Card Discovered: Arturo "Ramon Campos" Braga]
[Rank: B]
[Source: Fast & Furious]
[Skill: Disguise Mask]
Effect: Allows the user to fabricate a false identity to deceive the public. The credibility of the alias is artificially reinforced, granting a forced +50% Belief Rate from anyone who interacts with the persona. This makes even the most suspicious covers seem authentic.
Learning Requirements:Bond: Close Friend or Higher | Cost: 120 Skill Fragments
[Bond: Stranger]
Now that… was interesting.
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